Gladstone Institutional Advisory LLC Increases Position in American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP)

Gladstone Institutional Advisory LLC lifted its holdings in American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP) by 61.3% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 8,922 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,390 shares during the period. Gladstone Institutional Advisory LLC’s holdings in American Electric Power were worth $725,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of AEP. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its stake in American Electric Power by 14.4% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 28,591,562 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,150,657,000 after buying an additional 3,589,451 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley lifted its holdings in American Electric Power by 4.1% in the third quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 14,892,850 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,120,240,000 after acquiring an additional 587,145 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. lifted its holdings in American Electric Power by 13.7% in the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 9,798,204 shares of the company’s stock valued at $737,021,000 after acquiring an additional 1,181,706 shares during the last quarter. Royal Bank of Canada lifted its holdings in American Electric Power by 5.1% in the third quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 7,714,823 shares of the company’s stock valued at $580,308,000 after acquiring an additional 374,300 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Lazard Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in American Electric Power by 18.1% in the third quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 4,311,429 shares of the company’s stock valued at $324,304,000 after acquiring an additional 660,599 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.24% of the company’s stock.

American Electric Power Stock Performance

Shares of AEP stock opened at $92.62 on Wednesday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $85.90 and its two-hundred day moving average is $82.26. The firm has a market cap of $48.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.18, a PEG ratio of 2.86 and a beta of 0.50. American Electric Power Company, Inc. has a 1 year low of $69.38 and a 1 year high of $93.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.50, a quick ratio of 0.37 and a current ratio of 0.54.

American Electric Power (NASDAQ:AEP) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 30th. The company reported $1.27 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.25 by $0.02. American Electric Power had a return on equity of 11.23% and a net margin of 14.60%. The company had revenue of $5 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.02 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.11 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 6.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts predict that American Electric Power Company, Inc. will post 5.58 earnings per share for the current year.

American Electric Power Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.88 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 9th. This represents a $3.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.80%. American Electric Power’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 65.31%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently commented on AEP. Cfra reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $92.00 price objective (up from $90.00) on shares of American Electric Power in a report on Tuesday, February 27th. Barclays upped their price objective on American Electric Power from $84.00 to $88.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, May 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on American Electric Power from $84.00 to $89.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 1st. UBS Group cut American Electric Power from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $86.00 to $83.00 in a research note on Monday, March 11th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on American Electric Power from $95.00 to $99.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 14th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $88.43.

American Electric Power Profile

American Electric Power Company, Inc, an electric public utility holding company, engages in the generation, transmission, and distribution of electricity for sale to retail and wholesale customers in the United States. It operates through Vertically Integrated Utilities, Transmission and Distribution Utilities, AEP Transmission Holdco, and Generation & Marketing segments.